Practical Packet Analysis: Using Wireshark to Solve Real-World Network Problems

It's easy to capture packets with Wireshark, the world's most popular network sniffer, whether off the wire or from the air. But how do you use those packets to understand what's happening on your network?

With an expanded discussion of network protocols and 45 completely new scenarios, this extensively revised second edition of the best-selling Practical Packet Analysis will teach you how to make sense of your PCAP data. You'll find new sections on troubleshooting slow networks and packet analysis for security to help you better understand how modern exploits and malware behave at the packet level. Add to this a thorough introduction to the TCP/IP network stack and you're on your way to packet analysis proficiency.

Learn how to:

• Use packet analysis to identify and resolve common network problems like loss of connectivity, DNS issues, sluggish speeds, and malware infections
• Build customized capture and display filters
• Monitor your network in real-time and tap live network communications
• Graph traffic patterns to visualize the data flowing across your network
• Use advanced Wireshark features to understand confusing captures
• Build statistics and reports to help you better explain technical network information to non-techies

Practical Packet Analysis is a must for any network technician, administrator, or engineer. Stop guessing and start troubleshooting the problems on your network.

Wireshark is the world's most popular "packet sniffer," allowing its users to uncover valuable information about computer networks by analyzing the TCP packets that travel through them. This significantly revised and expanded second edition of Practical Packet Analysis shows you how to use Wireshark to capture raw network traffic, filter and analyze packets, and diagnose common network problems. Author Chris Sanders begins by discussing how networks work and gives you a solid understanding of how packets travel along the wire. He then explains how Wireshark can be used to monitor and troubleshoot networks. Numerous case studies help you apply your newfound knowledge to your networks. This revision offers more detailed explanations of key networking protocols; expanded discussions of wireless protocol analysis and an examination of network security at the packet level; expanded discussion of the meaning of packets and how they can offer insight into network structure; and new scenarios and examples. Whether fighting a virus infestation or a confounding connectivity problem, Practical Packet Analysis, 2nd Edition will help you find the problem and fix it.

Chris Sanders is a technology consultant, author, and trainer currently residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is the senior analyst for EWA Government Systems, Inc., and a staff writer for WindowsNetworking.com and WindowsSecurity.com. He has a B.A. in telecommunications from Murray State University as well as several industry certifications, including SANS GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), and Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA).